Britain’s vote to leave the European Union — sending economic shockwaves across the globe, driving out the prime minister and crashing the British pound — has faith leaders facing a new challenge: How to reconcile this act of national door-slamming on the EU with a religious message of welcoming the stranger and resolving conflicts through dialogue.

CAMBRIDGE, England – For the last month, fliers about the United Kingdom’s referendum on the European Union have come through my door with statements like: “The EU costs us at least £350 million a week. That’s enough to build a new NHS hospital every week.” Not one of them has mentioned religion.

OXFORD, England – A commission of Catholic bishops has called on the European Union to more actively promote peace and reconciliation to ease tensions and conflicts on country borders.

MANCHESTER, England – European funding for Catholic aid agencies based in the U.K. could be withdrawn if the British people vote to leave the EU in late June, said an English bishop.

OTTAWA - The Canadian government should join the European Union in labelling the persecution of Christians by Islamic State jihadists a genocide, said Aid to the Church in Need.

MANCHESTER, England - The European Union must adopt a common asylum policy "without delay" because it is unacceptable for refugees to "drown and suffocate" at the fringes of the bloc, said the European bishops.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has boldly urged the European Union to respond immediately and compassionately to the region’s largest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

MANCHESTER, England - Bishops across the European Union are calling on member states to be generous toward tens of thousands of migrants flooding across the Mediterranean.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis said people who shut out refugees should seek forgiveness June 17, after clashes on Italy’s borders as European countries try to push back against a wave of migrants fleeing by boat from Libya.

RHODES, Greece - Migrants pay thousands of dollars to human traffickers in countries like Turkey and Libya to ferry them to what they hope are the greener pastures of Europe. The growing crises in places like Libya allow traffickers to work almost unobstructed.

VATICAN CITY - The poor, migrants in search of a better life and the unemployed want what all human beings want: life, dignity and a chance to earn a decent living, Pope Francis said in several speeches urging compassion and assistance by both governments and individuals.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis once again urged solidarity with migrants who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea for Europe, and assured prayers for the victims of a deadly crossing in early February.